Harvard Divinity School

The Armenian Life of Marutha of Maipherkat

Author(s): Ralph Marcus
Source: The Harvard Theological Review, Vol. 25, No. 1 (Jan., 1932), pp. 47-71
Published by: Cambridge University Press on behalf of the Harvard Divinity School
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THE ARMENIAN LIFE OF MARUTHA

OF MAIPHERKAT
RALPH MARCUS
JEWISH INSTITUTE

OF RELIGION,

AND COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY

THE Armenian Vita here translated, of Marutha, a Syrian

bishop of the fifth century, has an interest because of Marutha's
activity as mediator between the Byzantine emperors, Arcadius
and Theodosius II, and the Sassanian king Yezdegerd I.
The ancient sources for the life of Marutha are scanty 1 nor
does the biography here translated add greatly to our knowledge
of him. From the Greek and Nestorian sources it is known that
he was present at the important councils of the church in the
last decades of the fourth century; was sent to the court of
Persia, probably at least twice, once on the accession of Yezdegerd in 399 A.D. and again about 408 A.D., when Theodosius II

became emperor of the eastern Romans; and that he was present

at the Council of Seleucia in 410 A.D.2 He is reputed to be the
author of numerous works on church history and theology,
some of which are extant,3 the most important being a history
1 For the literature on Marutha see Assemani, Bibliotheca Orientalis, Rome, 17191738, I, 174, 195; III, 74; Labourt, Le Christianisme dans l'empire perse, Paris, 1904,
pp. 87-90; E. Nestle in Realencyklopadie fUr protestantische Theologie und Kirche,
XII, Leipzig, 1902, p. 392; Duval, La Litthrature syriaque, 3d ed., Paris, 1907, pp.
132 ff.; Baumstark, Geschichte der syrischen Literatur, Bonn, 19U2, pp. 53-54.
2 Labourt, p. 88 note 5, and p. 89.
1 Assemani, III, 74, gives' Abhdi'o' s catalogue of works written
by Marutha, among
them a "book concerning martyrs," which Assemani identifies with the Persian martyrology mentioned in the next note. For other works by Marutha see Baumstark. A
list of Armenian translations of Marutha's writings is given in the Catalogue des
anciennes traductions arminiennes, Venice, 1889; they include "Orations and Disquisitions: On the Mystery of the Church; On the Mystery of the Third Day of the Week;
On the Martyrdom of St. Simeon and other Martyrs; On the Holiness of Christ." For a
discussion and translation of Syriac fragments of Marutha's writings, see also O. Braun,
De Sancta Nicaena Synodo (Kirchengeschichtliche Studien, IV), Muinster, 1898, and
A. von Harnack, Der Ketzer-Katalog des Bischofs Maruta von Maipherkat (Texte u.
Untersuchungen, N. F. IV). These two studies, cited by Chabot, Synodon Orientale,
p. 4, n. 1, I have not consulted.
47

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48

HARVARD THEOLOGICALREVIEW

of the Christian martyrs who died in Persia in the reigns of

Sapur II and Yezdegerd I. There is no good reason to doubt
Marutha's authorship of this history, which claims to have been
based on accounts given by contemporaries.4
We have brief accounts of the bishop of Maipherkat (or of
Mesopotamia, as he is called in the Greek sources) in the church
histories of Socrates 5 and Sozomen,6 both of whom composed
their works within a generation after the death of Marutha
(c. 420 A.D.), in the church history of Theophanes 7 (ninth century), and on the Oriental side in the history of the Nestorian
patriarchs 8 written in Arabic by Mari ibn Sulaiman (twelfth
century) and revised by 'Amr ibn Matta (fifteenth century),
and in the ecclesiastical chronicle of Bar Hebraeus,' (thirteenth
century).
In order to afford a basis for comparison of our Armenian
version with the other accounts of Marutha's life, and to offer
materials for a more complete biography than yet exists, I have
thought it best to prefix to the translation of the Armenian Vita
translations of the Greek and Semitic sources mentioned
above.10

First in time is the Ecclesiastical History of Socrates, who

(vi. 15; I, 704) mentions Marutha at the council of Chalcedon
in connection with Cyrinus, who came to the council to attack
John Chrysostom:
He spoke [against John] before the bishops, calling him impious, a char-

at which the bishopsweredelighted.

latan, and a stubbornmule(&ybovarov),
But Marutha, bishop of Mesopotamia, accidentally stepped on one of Cyrinus' feet, and the latter was incapacitated and unable to accompany the

otherbishopsto Constantinople.

4 The Syriac text was first published by Assemani, Acta Sanctorum Martyrum
Orientalium et Occidentalium, 2 vols., Rome, 1748; this was translated into German
by Zingerle, Echte Akten heiliger Martyrer des Morgenlandes, Innsbruck, 1831; a
fuller text was published by Bedjan, Acta Martyrum et Sanctorum, Paris, 1890, II,
6 Edited by R. Hussey, Oxford, 1853.
57-396.
6 Edited
by R. Hussey, Oxford, 1860.
7 Edited by Classen in Corpus Scriptorum Historiae Byzantinae, Bonn, 1839.
8 Maris, Amri et Slibae de Patriarchis Nestorianorum Commentaria, ed. Gismondi,
Rome, vol. I, 1899, vol. II, 1897.
9 Bar Hebraei Chronicon Ecclesiasticum, ed. Abbeloos et Lamy, Louvain, 1872-77.
10 I have not been able to consult Photius, Bibliotheca; on the Synodicon Orientale,
ed. Chabot, Paris, 1902, see the Postscript at the close of this article.

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MARUTHA OF MAIPHERKAT

49

Cyrinus, we regret to learn, soon after died from an infection

caused by Marutha's carelessness.
The second and more important passage in Socrates (vii. 8;
I, 743-746) tells of Marutha's adventures at the court of Yezdegerd I, who reigned from 399 to 420 A.D.
About the same time " Christianity was spread in Persia in the following
way. Between the Romans and Persians there had been frequent interchanges
of embassies, and the causes for these mutual embassies were various. At this
particular time necessity brought it about that Marutha, the bishop of Mesopotamia, whom we mentioned a little while ago, was sent by the Roman emperor to the Persian king. And the king of Persia, finding him to be a man
of great piety, showed him great honor and hearkened to him as to a truly
God-inspired man (0EoLtXE?).These actions displeased the Magians (for they
have great influence with the king of Persia), as they feared that he [Marutha]
might convert the king to Christianity, for Marutha by his prayers had healed
the chronic headache of the king, which the Magians had not been able to
heal. The Magians accordingly contrived a treacherous plan. As the Persians
worship fire, and as the king was accustomed to adore the continually burning
fire in a temple, they hid a certain fellow under the ground, and instructed
him to cry out, at such a time as the king came to pray, that the king must be
cast out because he had been impious in believing the Christian priest to be
inspired by God. When Isdegerd - this was the king's name - heard this,
although he held Marutha in reverence, nevertheless he decided to send him
away. But Marutha, being a truly God-inspired man, gave himself up to
prayer, and by this means discovered the trick of the Magians; and he said
to the king, "Do not be deceived, O king. If thou go back to the place whence
thou heardst the voice, and dig there, thou wilt discover the trick, for it was
not the fire that cried out, but the machinations of men that effected this."
The Persian king believed Marutha and again entered the temple where the
perpetual fire burned; and when he again heard the same voice, he commanded the earth in that place to be dug up; whereupon he who had uttered
the supposedly divine voice was discovered. The king then became very
wrathful, and decimated the order of Magians. After this he told Marutha
that he might build churches wherever he liked. In this way Christianity was
spread among the Persians. Then Marutha left Persia and returned to Constantinople. But, not long after, he was again sent there on an embassy. Once
more the Magians plotted treachery in order that the king might not receive
him at all. They created an artificial stench in the place whence the king
was wont to proceed, and charged that the Christian believers had made it.
But inasmuch as the king, having the Magians under suspicion, rigorously
sought out the p :rpetrators of the deed, it was again found that those who had
made the foul ,odorwere Magians. A second time, therefore, he punished
many of them, but Marutha he held in still greater honor. And he cherished
the Romans and formed a friendship with them. And he very nearly became a
"1

At the death of Theophilosand the accessionof Cyrilas bishop of Alexandria

(412A.D.).

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THEOLOGICAL

REVIEW

Christian on the occasion of Marutha's performing another miracle, together

with Abla,12the bishop of Persia. For together they drove out the demon that
was troubling the king's son, by practising fasts and vigils. Now Isdegerd
died before he could become a Christian completely, and the kingdom passed
to his son Bararanes,13under whom the treaty between Rome and Persia was
dissolved, as we shall relate a little further on.

The reference in Sozomen (viii. 16; I, 835) need not be cited,

as it describes the incident of Marutha crushing Cyrinus' foot
already given in the first excerpt from Socrates, and is very
likely drawn from Socrates.
By Theophanes, in two passages, one or two new details are
added. In the first (i. 128), a notice of the year 5906 A.M.
(406 A.D.), he tells us:
In this year 1 Hypatia the philosopher, daughter of the philosopher Theon,
was violently put to death. In the same year Isdegerd, the king of Persia,
having been previously influenced by the exhortations of Marutha, bishop of
Mesopotamia, and Abda, bishop of the capital city of Persia, reached such a
height of piety that he was almost baptized, through the miracles of Marutha.
And he punished the Magians as deceivers. In the twentieth year [of his reign]
he died.

In the second notice (i. 132), of the year 5916 A.M. (416 A.D.),

Theophanes writes:
In the same year Theodosius 15 sent a royal crown to Valentinian in Rome
by the hand of Helion Patricius, and Marutha, bishop of Mesopotamia, healed
the son of Isdegerd, king of Persia, who was possessed by a demon, by praying
and fasting; wherefore Isdegerd conceived a great attachment
(7rXpoqoplav)
to Christianity.

Coming now to the Oriental sources, we may first cite the

Nestorian history of Mari ibn Sulaiman, called Kitdb almijdal
(Liber turris), folio 151b-153a: 16
After [Qayyfimi had been patriarch] five years, peace was made between
the Roman emperor and the Persian king Yezdegerd. The latter requested
the emperor to send him a man skilled in medicine (mutatabbib),and he sent
him the bishop of Mayyafaraqin,17Mar Marfitha by name, an accomplished
physician and a man of perfect piety (jamil almadhhab). When he asked the
12

Read Abda (Syriac 'Abhda.)

13 BahramV.
14 This sentencemay belong with the followingnotice, as Hypatia was killed in
415 A.D.
16 Theodosius II, 408-450 A.D.
16 Arabictext, pp. 29 ff.; Gismondi'sLatin version,pp. e5 ff.
17 Maipherkat;see belowon Martyropolisin ArmenianVita.

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MARUTHA

OF MAIPHERKAT

51

king for permission to erect churches, and for the Christians to live according
to their own ways (rusim) and openly to profess their religion, the king
granted this. And the church in Babylon, near the pit of Daniel, was restored,
which the Jews had formerly destroyed after killing the monks, elders, and
deacons who were in it; and there he established a community (jamd'a) of
monks. And Mar Maratha, the bishop, healed the son of Yezdegerd of an
epilepsy (sar') from which he had suffered. And when matters were settled, he
[Qayyfima] resigned from the patriarchate and bestowed it upon Isaac. But
the Magians were angry that the king showed favor to the Christians, because
Marutha had also cured the king of a violent headache (sada' gadid) which
had attacked him. And they anointed a certain man with an unguent that
protected against the heat of fire, and placed him in the fire. And when the
king passed by, the fire addressed him with reproaches and abuse for having
honored the Christians and having permitted the building of churches. And
he was troubled and distressed, and he summoned Marfitha, and the latter
said to him, "This is a trick, and I will reveal it, if thou wilt allow me to enter
the fire and fetch out the speaker." And he [the king] said, "Enter"; and
Maratha entered and fetched out the speaker. And never again after this
did the fire speak. And the king commanded that the attendants of the firetemple be killed; and his friendship for the Christians increased.
Isaac, a kinsman of Tomarsa,"8was a chaste, kind, and prudent man and a
performer of miracles. And when Qayyfima saw that God desired the gathering together 19 of the Christians, and the establishing of their affairs, he
wrote to all the metropolitans and bishops of the Eastern cities, and they came
to him in the church of Madayn,20and were assembled in his presence together
with Maratha the physician, bishop of Mayyafaraqin. He said to them, "Ye
know that I am not fitted for this office (ra'dsa) because of my infirmity and
my sins, and behold I have given myself to God, who is mighty and glorious,
because I have not found any who would offer himself to God, who is blessed
and exalted, and because I feared that Christianity might disappear in the
East, and that its churches and patriarchate (ra'dsa) might disappear. And
now God has averted what we feared, through these two blessed kings and
this blessed bishop, and the fear has ceased. And I ask you to release me from
the patriarchate and bestow it upon another, whom God, whose name is exalted, shall choose for you and through you." And they wept and said, "How
dost thou think that this is lawful, since thou hast already given thyself to
God, whose name is exalted, and hast suffered greatly, and it is meet that we
should be thy servants?" But he continued to supplicate them until they
associated with him in the patriarchate the above mentioned Isaac, in
Madayn, according to rule. And they laid the condition upon him that he
should act as a son toward Qayyfima, the blessed and venerable man (sayh),
and should not decide anything except with his approval; and Isaac did this,
and more than fulfilled the conditions laid upon him, until the death of
Qayyfima. And when he died he was buried in Madayn. And Marftha,
the bishop and physician, continued to teach the people of the East all the
is So the Arabic text. Gismondiin his Latin version has 'Marutae cognatus,'
probablya slip of the pen.
19 Gismondi,wronglyI think, translatesijtima'as 'restauratio.'
20

Ctesiphon.

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traditions (sunna) and decisions of the people of the West, on which they had
agreed in their synods, and had confirmed there. And they received these
from him and confirmed among themselves, and they made known to him
that the Westerners were their brethren and comrades. And Maratha gathered a great number of the bones of the martyrs who had been martyred in the
East, and copies of every book he found of them, and he carried these with
him, and left part in his seat at Mayyafaraqin- and this is remembered there
to this day, where people are blessed by them - and with the remainder he
travelled to the West, and they were distributed among the churches.
And Mar Maratha met with the one hundred and fifty bishops who were
gathered in Constantinople, and he described to them the purity of faith of
the Eastern people and their piety and their long-suffering in martyrdom.
And he said that his journey was the cause of good because he had seen those
people, their modesty, the sincerity of their intentions; and that they were, in
his opinion, in the class of angels (rfthanin), and that there was not in their
cities or churches any division of opinion or any sects or deviation from what
the Gospel taught and the preaching of the apostle Paul and what the apostle
Luke reported in the Acts of the Apostles. Then he asked permission of the
emperor to return to the East and to be blessed there, and the emperor granted
permission, and he returned; and with him there was a bishop of Amida-onthe-hill, whose name was Acacius.21 And it happened in the days of this
bishop that some patricians of Rfm 22 had taken captive some of the people
of Ba'arbaya and the region of Mesopotamia to the number of four thousand
men, among them bishops of this region. And this bishop said, "This does
not become us, and our prayers will not be heard, for these our brethren have
been taken captive from their province, and we see them in this condition
and do not release them." And he sold all the ornaments of the rest of the
churches in his province, gold and silver, and received for them sixteen
thousand drachmas; and he bought them [the captives] back and restored
them to their homes.23 And the patriarch Isaac died and was buried in
Madayn, after eleven years in office.

The next authority in chronological order is Bar Hebraeus

(iii. 46 ff.), whose Syriac Ecclesiastical Chronicle was written in
the second half of the thirteenth century:
Five years after his [Qayyfima's] ordination 24 peace was made between
Arcadius the Greek emperor, and Izdegerd king of Persia, who was a persecutor of the Christians. To him was sent on an embassy ('izgadathd)Maratha,
bishop of Mayperqat, a learned man and wonderful teacher; and through his
coming the Christians were granted peace. Then Qayyima gathered all the
Eastern bishops in the presence (metayyebhfzthd)
of Maratha, and urged them
to release him because he was feeble (meihil) ....

When the bishops refused

to let him resign, he laid upon them the word of God to do it, and urged
Maratha also to persuade them. Then they unwillingly agreed, and ordained
21 Arabic
23

22
Byzantium.
'aqdq.
Comparethe story of the ransomof Nep'rkertin the Armenian.

24 94 A.D.

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Ispac in his place. ... In the six hundred and sixty-first year of the Greeks,25
in the reign of Theodosius the Great, a synod of one hundred and fifty bishops
was convened at Constantinople, in which Macedonius of Constantinople was
deposed (betel), who had blasphemed against the Holy Ghost, asserting that
He was a created being (berithd). And Marfithd of Mayperqat was again sent
a second time as an ambassador to Izdegerd in his eleventh year,26on which
occasion he informed the catholicus Isaac of [the decisions of] the council.
And so Isaac summoned forty of his bishops, who, as faithful believers, agreed
to the deposition of Macedonius. And Marfitha prescribed for them admirable canons, and taught the Easterners a good order (Sappirfth metaksfitha)
[of services?]. And Isaac died, having served eleven years, and was buried in
Seleucia.

The last source is the Nestorian history of 'Amr ibn Mattii

(pp. 23-25; Latin version pp. 13-15):
Isaac. This Father was a venerable, good, wise, upright, merciful man,
given to fasting and prayer, and performing signs and miracles, and furthering
the welfare of his flock by the best means. And it happened that Yezdegerd,
king of Persia, was afflicted by an illness that the Persian physicians could not
heal - and many Christian physicians had been killed in the reign of Sapur,
and those who survived had fled to other lands - and he wrote to the Roman
emperor, asking him for a skilled physician. And he sent Marfitha, bishop of
Mayyafiraqin, a learned and upright man and a skilful physician (tabibhadhiq), known for his fear of God and his good works. Now Arcadius the Roman
emperor had heard what evils the Christians had suffered in the country of
the Persians, namely torture and banishment and death; and this saddened
and troubled him, and he had no way of helping them. And he found this a
favorable occasion to write a letter to Yezdegerd, in which he said: "God,
who is migh'ty and glorious, has given us royal authority, not that we should
seek our own advantage, but has given us power that we may use righteously,
to punish the guilty and to reward the good man according to his merit. And
as though thou wert one of his worshippers, he has made thee a great gift
from among the kingdoms of the world, and into thy hand has placed his
creatures. But contrary to law and justice are the violences, robberies, and
killings inflicted upon the Christians in thy realm. And if these things are
done without thy knowledge, still thy ministers (ashdbuka) do them in their
lust for the wealth of the Christians, which they take for themselves; and this
will bring upon thee both the wrath of God and the indignation of men, wbo,
when they see the wrong done to their fellows, will be greatly angered and
find it beyond endurance. And if these people [the Persian ministers] turned
their energies to fighting the enemy and governing the kingdom, I should find
it better. Now we request thee hereafter to treat the Christians well and to
end the injustice and the injury [done] to them, and to permit the building of
churches." And he sent this letter with the bishop Marfitha; and when he
came to Yezdegerd and treated him and healed him of his illness, he gave over
25 350 A.D.
The editorsof Bar Hebraeusnote that the synod of 150 bishopswas
held in 381 A.D., and that Macedonius was deposed at the previous synod of 360 A.D.
26 410 A.D.

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to him the letter. And he [the king] opened it, and rejoiced at it, and granted
what had been requested of him. And peace (sukan) surrounded the Christians, and what they had [suffered]ceased. Now the patriarch Isaac desired
to establish canons useful for precepts (fard'id) and counsels of religion
(ahkdm addiniyya), and he summoned to him the Fathers who were in the
provinces and convened from their number forty bishops and metropolitans
in the eleventh year of the reign of Yezdegerd, and they assembled on the
birthday [of the Lord] (yawn 'id almildd), and Marfitha was present with
them. And Isaac with the approval of all established twenty-two canons,
which were necessary for the government of the church in the East, and these
found favor in the eyes of Maritha and he approved them. Then he made
known to them the canons which the Western Fathers had written in synod,
and at the same time there were brought to him the letters written at the
council of Nicaea, at the time when they were present there with those at the
council. And Marfiths had copies made of all the canons and commentaries
(tafdsir) which he found among [the works of] the Eastern Fathers and which
are not found among the Greeks. And he gathered together a great number
of the bones of the martyrs and took [them] with him; and when the council
of the one hundred and fifty bishops met in Constantinople, this bishop
Marfith&met with them. He published among them, and informed them of,
all that he had witnessed and seen of the righteousness of the Easterners and
the purity of their belief and their love and their sincerity of thought and the
chastity of their monks and their fortitude under abuse and trials, the good
order (tartib) of their churches and their constancy in one opinion and their
wholeness from impurity in respect of erroneous doctrines, and their zeal and
devotion applied to the interpretation (ma'dnd) of the holy Scriptures, and
especially the holy Gospel and the Acts of the Apostles and the epistles of Paul
and his commentary (tafsir) and explanations (Jurthi). And he said, "I found
the Christians of the East like corporeal angels (mald'ik jismaniyyin), because
they have advanced so far in knowledge and love and humility and chastity."
And Isaac died in the twelfth year of Yezdegerd, that is, the seven hundred
and twenty-eighth year of the Greeks,27and was buried in Madaiyn, and his
rule had lasted eleven years.

Finally we come to the Armenian Vita, which, as we learn

from the text itself, was translated from the Syriac by a certain
Gagig, presumably a priest,28and his deacon Grigor. There is
no indication of the date of the translation other than the fact
that it mentions the Sassanian king Kawadh (I),29 who died in
531 A.D. As he is mistakenly made the grandson of Yezdegerd I,
instead of Yezdegerd II, we may assume that Gagig wrote some
time after the close of the sixth century, late enough for the
chronology to be left uncertain.30The name Gagig is common,"
27 416 A.D. In fact, the twelfth year of Yezdegerd was 411 A.D.
29 Kawat in Armenian.
In two MSS.he is called hayr 'Father.'

28

30

Unlessindeedthe story of Kawat is an additionto Gagig'stext.

31 See F. Justi, IranischesNamenbuch,Marburg,1895,pp. 107-108.

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MARUTHA OF MAIPHERKAT

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but there is a possibility that our translator is the same who

rendered from Syriac into Armenian a life of the Egyptian
monk Narses.32
The text of the Armenian version is found in Vark' ew Vkayabanout'iunk' Srbo? (Vitae et passiones sanctorum), Venice,
1874, II, 17-32. I am greatly indebted to Professor Louis H.
Gray of Columbia University for his kindness in putting at my
disposal a French translation he had made of pp. 17-22 of the
text, and for his helpful suggestions and corrections.
The History of the Life of the Blessed Marut'a
[17] Brethren and fathers, listen to the story of the blessed
Marut'a, through whom the Lord manifested miracles to the
world, because he was called to the grace of adoption and became a shepherd of Christ's flock, which was cast by demons
into pastures of death and into abysses of perdition; and
through him it pleased God to bring back the lost ones of our
land. And I shall recount according to my ability, although my
mind is too feeble and my words are too simple to tell the
miracles of the man of God, who was visibly manifested by the
power of Christ and needeth not fine words. Listen, then, confirmed by the love and the faith of the true Shepherd who hath
called you to kingship in Christ; and ye thirst with thirst 33 for
spiritual admonition and for divine miracles; ye have drunk
delicious draughts which were vouchsafed unto you by Christ
through the blessed one of whom we shall relate a little [chosen]
from many [things].
This land was ensnared in the idolatry of the demons of seduction, and men worshipped with sacrifices the creatures and
not the Creator who is eternally praised. As if taken in battle
at night, and enmeshed in various evils, is that which, darkened
by its many sins,34the light of the knowledge of God doth not
illumine. [18] But when God wished to save this land and to
32 Cf. Bibliotheca Hagiographica Orientalis, Brussels, 1910, p. 176.
33

Semitic idiom, found also in the Greek Old and New Testaments. For the Syriac
original, see T. Niildeke, Kurzgefasste syrische Grammatik, 2d ed., Leipzig, 1898,
pp. 225-9m6.
34 Read xawareal 'i pspjs melsn in place of 'i xawareal pgspgs mels.

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bring [it] back from its straying to the knowledge of God, in the
time of the blessed Yakob bishop of Mcbin,35 the wonderful
man of God, a certain woman named Mariam, a daughter of the
nobles of Armenia, was given as wife to the heathen pontiff of
the Otayecs,36who was lord of that land; and by the hand of
that woman Mariam Christianity was revealed in that land;
and she built a church and consecrated a monastery and established priests and ministers who offered daily praise to God, and
she herself granted necessities in full to the ministers, and made
herself obedient to the Christian religion before God and man,
and she converted her husband to Christianity so that he gave
up the service of a vain worship and worshipped the God of
heaven and earth; and by her good counsel and the daily prayers which she offered for her husband, he, following the wishes
of Mariam, believed in the true God and was baptized in the
name of the Father and of the Son and the Holy Ghost, and his
name was called Marut'a,37 which is translated "lord of the
land," because he was in truth the lord of that land; and there
was much rejoicing over the man and the woman who had been
[added] to the glory of our God. But a little while after came
the end of Marut'a, the husband of Mariam, and he left three
sons born of Mariam [and] believing in God Almighty; one of
them was lord of the land; and two [were] generals of the kings,
renowned and glorious in the eyes of all. And Mariam, justified
by faith and hope, buried her husband as was meet for Christians, and giving thanks she praised God that she had seen her
husband pass away believing in God. And after that she determined to go to Jerusalem and to provide for the holy churches
and to divide her possessions with the poor and the ministers of
the churches for the redemption [19] of the life of her sons, for
the lady had so great a soul and faith and fear of God; and she
entreated God continually that he make her sons worthy to
35 Nisibis. Cf. H. Huibschmann, Altarmenische Grammatik, Leipzig, 1897, I, 295.
On Yakob, see E. Nestle, Realencyklopidie fiUrprotestantische Theologie und Kirche,
3d ed., Leipzig, 1900, VIII, 559.
36 One Ms. Awtac. It is probably the province Uti. Cf. H. HUibschmann, Altarmenische Ortsnamen, Strasbourg, 1904, pp. 270-275.
37 Syriac, Marfitha, 'lordship,' explained by a popular Armenian etymology as mar
utha, 'lord of Utha.'

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become priests of God, in order that she might, by the priesthood of Christ, heal the scar of sins, [that is] the former worship
of idols by her husband, and that the most holy Trinity might
always be glorified 38 by her race.
And she returned to Antioch of Asorestan 39 and dwelt in the
martyr chapel of Saint Eliazar and of Smawon Samune 40 and of
her seven sons who were martyred; 41 and she passed the whole
night in prayer to God. With many entreaties and tears she
asked the Lord of all, by the intercession of the saints, to fulfil
the prayer which she had desired, as has been said before. And
in a vision she saw an angel of God who said to her, "Courage,
O woman, for thy prayer hath been heard by God, and that
which thou shalt ask of God will be thine by the intercession of
the saints in whom thou hast believed." And with a commingling of fear and joy she glorified God and offered praise, and she
believed the words of the angel. And when she had returned to
her home, she had a grandson by her son who was 'lord of the
land'; and her heart was joyful, and she rendered thanks to
Almighty God, and she had him baptized by the priest Marmara who loved God, and she named him with the name of his
grandfather Marut'a, and she resolved that through this man
God should make a visitation of this land, because there had
been a manifestation of grace over the child. And after five 42
years she gave him for instruction to the priest Marmara who
loved God, and he taught him to read and instructed him in the
ways of the wisdom of life [20] and in the faith of righteousness.
And when he reached the age of the perfection of Christ,43and
appeared to be endowed with all graces and pleasing to God and
man, he appointed him deacon, and after that a priest of the
church of God, which had been built by his grandmother
Mariam; and he knew and understood that this life is vain, and
Read p'araworci in place of parawori?
Here
means Syria. For other meanings of Asorestan see below, note 51.
39
40 One Ms., Smawni.
41 Cf. 2 Maccabees 6, 14-7, 41; 4 Maccabees, chaps. 8 ff. In the Greek the mother's
name is not given, but in the Syriac memre celebrating the Maccabean martyrs
her name is given as Samone, cf. Bensly, Fourth Book of Maccabees and Kindred
Documents in Syriac, Cambridge, 1895.
42 One Ms. 'seven.'
43 That is, thirty-three years.
38

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he chose the way of holiness and righteousness, and he despised

the life of this world; and he went on in going 44 and made
progress in the laborious labors of piety by testimonies to
Christ. Because of this Mariam was filled with joy, because she
saw the grandson of her hopes endowed with all austerity, and
she rejoiced and praised God, and went away to her convent
that she had built before, and there she became a devotee of
great austerity; she accomplished all the days of her life to the
glory of God. And afterwards came the end of Mariam, fulfilled
in days and transported to Christ by all her virtue; and Marut'a
adorned her tomb magnificently, and Marut'a himself made
still more progress in the path of uprightness; by prayers and
by vigils he disciplined himself with all purification, not moved
by thought, word, or deed, and he never wished to receive anything from the land, and, being renowned and celebrated everywhere because of his struggles for uprightness, he was called to
the grace of the episcopate, in view of the plenitude of the grace
which was revealed in him; for he was illumined by grace and
divine wisdom and he advanced constantly, signalizing himself
by his attachment to virtue; and he went in the ways of Christ
with an apostolic mission, bringing back the lost to the wisdom
of the truth; and he built churches and distributed priests and
ministers who glorified the most holy Trinity; and the monasteries which had been built by his grandmother [21] he augmented with anchorites; and he fortified the upright in the faith
in the institutions of the divine religion in the manner of the
first holy fathers; and he reformed the inhabitants of the land
anew, both men and women, according to the image of God by
his holy ways and his brilliant teaching and his very great
miracles, and he cleansed them of foolish heresy and polytheistic error, and he led all toward righteousness; and he revealed
himself like a bright lamp to them that sat in darkness and the
shadow of death; 45he drove out the darkness of ignorance from
this land; he expelled the bands of the left hand 46 by the virtue
of Christ, and he believed that the ranks of the angels of the
right were the protection of the believers in Christ; he purified
Semitism; cf. Nbldeke, above, note 33.
46 One MS.'the bands of the demons
46 Luke 1, 79.
(dev)'.

44

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his heart of evil thought; he received divine grace; showing it by

love and by aspiration, he loved virtue in his life, and his tongue
spoke of righteousness, and he preached holiness constantly to
all the land, freely receiving and freely giving the gifts of the
Creator.47 And all men, when they heard the words of God
from the holy bishop, turned from the worship of idols to the
true God, for by the prayers of the saint he led the wandering
souls of mankind back to righteousness; and they overthrew
the images of the gods and built monasteries and churches, and
the cults of the worship of the pagan priests were forbidden, and
they took the place of the worship of the pagan altars in the
churches of God, according to his own 48 desire. And when the
enemy of righteousness saw all this, defeated by the saint in
spiritual combat he cried out in a loud voice in the hearing of
all, and said, " Woe to me and mine, for we have been driven
out of our dwelling here by Marut'a the servant of Christ, and
we know not where to go; for the glory of Christ hath filled all
the earth, and like smoke in the wind, we have been carried
away from the midst thereof."
And the blessed Marut'a sealed with the cross of Christ the
flock who believed in Him, in order that none should approach
to seduce it; for like a spiritual [and] diligent husbandman he
uprooted the thorns from the fields and the hearts of all, and
sowed righteousness and holiness to the glory of God; for those
who hearkened not to the prophets nor gave ear to the preaching of the apostles, God wished to bring the wanderers back by
the hand of Marut'a to knowledge of the truth by the prayers
and intercessions of all the saints who were gathered there. For
the flock was without a shepherd, cast down by beasts, [that is]
evil demons. And through this saint, Christ the good Shepherd,
who gave his life for his sheep,49by his shepherd's staff, [that is]
his life-giving cross, drove the demons away, and through him
[Marut'a] he gathered them back to the unity of the faith and
to the knowledge of the most holy Trinity by pasturing them
in a verdant place; and, washing them in the waters of baptism
and cleansing the impurity of their souls and their bodies, he
47 Matthew 10, 8.
49 John 10, 11.

48 Reading norin in place of noroun?

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brought them back to the divine fold which is the church of

God; and he found the lost, he gathered the scattered, he healed
the sick, that by spiritual birth and lustration and by the lifegiving body and blood of the Saviour he might create anew
sons of God the Father and heirs of Christ, who gave himself
unto death for the salvation of his disciples; and he visited those
who were far and near; and the light of the world shineth today
through the blessed Marut'a. He was like Moses, who saved
Israel from the Egyptian captivity and led them by a pillar of
fire and cloud to the promised land; and by his courage and his
zeal [he was] like Paul, who surpassed the first apostles both by
signs and by miracles [and] moreover by most gracious letters,
being the herald and the apostle of the world. In like manner
the blessed Marut'a also was a preacher to the land and a
teacher who, filled with all virtue, perfectly and by many
miracles increased his flock day by day. And the Lord aided
him in all ways; and he, who was taught by the Lord, desired
all men to receive blessings, blessing his disciples and those who
desired to become his companions. [23] And so, telling the
truth with love, and obeying the precepts of the Gospel, he
drove out from them their satanic imaginings and wicked
thoughts, and by the truth which was taught them their religion
and spiritual life were shaken by no one. And he himself more
and more mortified himself by ascetic practices of all kinds, and
he loved God with all his heart and all his might, and he practised righteousness in all things, so that I am not able to relate
the wonders and miracles which the Lord manifested through
him in all the land. And this happened in the three hundred
and fourth [year] of the era of the Greeks, in the time of the
younger Theodosius; 50 on behalf of this donor of divine favors,
by the inspiration of the Holy Ghost, he went to Asorestan, 51
that there also he might uproot the evil and iniquity of their
customs through the power of Christ, and that he might reform
the believers who, by the constraint of the Magians, kept the
50 One MS. 'And this happened in the thirty-third [year] of the era of the Greeks,
in the time of Theodosius, emperor of the Romans.' Another MS. 'And this happened
in the eighty-third [year] in the era of the Greeks, in the twentieth year of the younger
Theodosius, the pious. Text probably corrupt.
51 Not Syria or Assyria, but Suristan. Cf. Marquart, Evansahr.

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church of God surrounded in darkness. And like a radiant

light, by the grace of God he illumined believers and confounded the folly of the Magians and triumphantly manifested
the truth; and the churches of God became glorious with daily
worship.
And a report of the miracles of the holy bishop came to the
Persian king Yazkert, who was a persecutor of the Christians,
and he was summoned by him. When he came, the king with
his nobles confronted the holy bishop. And he saw the divine
grace upon the saint, and bowing down he prostrated himself
before him in the presence of his courtiers. In like manner the
saint of God prostrated himself before the king and saluted
[him]. And he spoke good words, and the king loved the saint
of God with all his heart by the heavenly inspiration of grace,
for God wished to bring salvation to his servants by means of
the love of the king for the saint. For Yazkert was a persecutor
of the Christians in all the territory under his rule through his
officers and the Magians and the Chief Magians. And by many
torments they compelled the Christians to prostrate themselves
before the sun and fire. Many who did not obey the command
of the king became martyrs of Christ, and there was great oppression of the Christians and help from no place. And through
the blessed one protection was given to the Christians by the
Lord, and so [came] cessation of persecution and deliverance
from prison and chains. The king had a very handsome son,
and he was dearer to him than all his sons, and he was possessed by a very evil demon and found no healing from Magians
or sorcerers or astrologers or any other source; and this misfortune came about by the providence of God, who was watching over the salvation of the multitude who believed in the
Lord, that truth might be manifested by the wisdom of God and
God be magnified and the horn of the church be exalted.52 And
the king said to Marut'a, "I have a beloved son who is sore
tormented by a demon and findeth healing nowhere, and I have
great sorrow because of him; and now I entreat thee, O servant
of the most high God, to ask God to heal my child, and that the
demon leave him, and that he recover and live." And the saint
52

Psahn 89, 17, etc.

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said, "Let thy son come, that I may see him." And when they
brought him before all, the demon shrieked from the child, and
said, "What have I to do with thee, servant of the crucified
Christ? Thou hast come from a far land to drive me from my
habitation." And he threw the child to the ground, and he [the
child] was in great danger and fainted away. And his appearance was pitiful and lamentable, and terror seized them all.
And there was another holy bishop with the blessed Marut'a,
and he fell upon his face on the ground; and they prayed to the
Lord and said: "Lord God Almighty, who [25] heardest the
Canaanite woman who cried out to thee, and hadst compassion
on her and dravest out the demon from her daughter 53 and
didst heal her of the sickness of the demon, and drownedst their
legion with the swine in the sea,54 and also dravest many other
demons out of men, some by thyself and some through thy
disciples, on whom thou hadst compassion and wroughtest salvation through them; now, Lord of hosts, rebuke this evil one
who is in this child, and let him be driven out of him, Almighty
One, by thy name, and let all men know that thou alone art
the true God. And let there be a cessation of the persecution
of thy flock through this [child's] recovery. For thou art powerful over all things, and by thy glory every act is accomplished
now and forevermore." And those who were with him having
said Amen, he removed the demon; and he [the demon] screamed
loudly, and said: "Woe is me, woe is me! From how glorious a
dwelling have I been driven out!" And the child revived and
came to his senses; and raising himself up he gave praise to God.
The king, seeing this, rejoiced, and said, "Verily the God
of the Christians is greater than all the gods of the nations, for
we have both heard and seen these great miracles [performed]
by his servant." And the king said, "Now ask of me whatever
thou desirest, and I will give it thee." And the blessed Marut'a
said: "I desire nothing of thee save only that thou release the
Christians from their prisons and chains and from their very
grievous suffering; and that they be free to worship their God
and rebuild the churches to the glory of the name of God in thy
65 Matthew 15, 21-28; Mark 8, 24-30.
54 Matthew 8, 28-34; Mark 5, 1-21; Luke 8, 26-40.

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kingdom. Moreover show friendship to Theodosius, emperor

of the Greeks, and let there be peace throughout the whole
world through thee." And the king approved his words and
performed all his requests.
And the good news was spread through the land by the decree
of the king that the prisoners should be released from their
chains and their torture, and that the churches should be rebuilt, and that they should freely worship their God, and that
those who had persecuted and oppressed them should be punished by the royal command. And there was great mourning
among the Magians, but among the believers [26] in Christ
great rejoicing with praise and thanksgiving to God. And the
prisoners who had been confined for the sake of Christ were released from their bonds, and [also] the nobles of Armenia. And
there was great peace throughout the land of the king. And the
Christians were permitted to rebuild the churches of God and
to worship God freely.
After these things had happened in this way, he again requested the king to let him depart. And he [the king] gave him
many gifts and messages of peace, and let him go to the Greek
emperor. And the blessed one came to the pious Theodosius
and saluted him and presented the decree of the king of the
Persians. And when he had read it, he rejoiced greatly over his
[Yazkert's] love and friendship for the Christians. And he
asked the saint about everything; and he told him of the miracles that had been performed in the name of the Lord, and of
the cessation of the persecutions. And he [the emperor] gave
thanks to God, who had in his mercy wrought deliverance
through the prayers of the saint. And he loved him more than
all his patriarchs. And the pious Theodosius gave thanks and
praise to God. And he inquired of [him], and was instructed by
him as by a holy and worthy man. Finally he asked him what
he desired. And the man of God requested the emperor to fortify the city of Cop'k' 55 with a strong wall and to build a
church to the glory of God in the midst of the city, wherein the
sacrifice of Christ and praises of God might continually be performed; and that a certain number of all the saints might be
6>Sophene; cf. Marquart, p.

171.

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brought together; and that it should be named the City of

Martyrs.56 And the emperor said: "Thy words are good, and
acceptable to God are thy designs. Therefore do as thou wilt,
and the expenses of the building will be paid by me, as much as
is needed." And he gave treasures of gold and silver, and craftsmen from the land of the Greeks and overseers and workmen as
many as were needed. And furthermore he sent him off with all
things and with a friendly reply by letter to the king of the
Persians.
And when he came to the city of
he began the building
C.op'k'
of the wall and assigned workmen to the work [27] and overseers over them, and he himself went to Pars, and other bishops
with him. And when the king saw him, he received him and all
those who were with him with honor; but Marut' a especially he
cherished with great honor. And he [Marut'a] gave [him] the
edict of the emperor Theodosius; and he [the king] rejoiced
greatly in the letter and in the words of his message. And there
was peace and friendship between both sovereigns until their
death. Now the king had suffered from headaches for a long
time, and no physician had helped him; and he told Marut'a.
And he offered up prayers and laid his right hand upon the
head of the king, and immediately he was healed by the name
of Christ. And never again did any headache trouble the king.
And his love and admiration for the saint increased still more,
for he recognized that truly God was with him.
And the Magians growing envious planned to lay a trap for
the man of God that they might cause him to lose the friendship
of the king. And, using deceit in the same manner as the Babylonians did toward Daniel in the reign of Darius,57 they also
made a subterranean chamber 58 underneath the fire-temple,
and they placed a man within it and instructed him to say to
the king,59 "I do not accept thy adoration because thou hast
loved the Christian priest 60 who hath counselled thee to despise
66Martirosac K'alak', Martyropolis, modern Maipherkat, Arabic Mayyafaraqin.
See Marquart, p. 161; Htibschmann, Ortsnamen, pp. 308-309. In this Vita it is also
called Cop'k' and Np'arkert.
67 Bel and the Dragon 13 ff. (Vulgate, Daniel 14, 12 ff.).
58 One Ms. 'a very small chamber.'
59 One MS.'they put words in his mouth to say to the king,' etc.
60 One
MS.'priests.'

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my ministers." And when the king, in accordance with his custom, came to worship the fire, the man interrupted him with a
loud cry and startled the king. And a voice which seemed to
him to come from out the fire said, "Get thee hence, thou impious one, I do not accept thy adoration, for thou hast joined
thyself to the Christian who hath seduced thee to the worship
of the Crucified, and hath counselled thee to despise my ministers." 61 And when the king heard [this], he was affrighted,
and went out and remained troubled and perplexed and confused in his thoughts; and he waited for the saint to speak.
And [28] the blessed Marut'a knew their trickery by the inspiration of the Holy Ghost, and approaching he said, "O king,
return to worship the fire, and uncover the place whence the
voice was heard, and thou wilt know the fraud of the Magians."
And he returned to the place and heard the same voice; and he
commanded the place to be uncovered whence he had heard the
voice. They uncovered [it] and drew the man out from the
place, and he revealed to the king those who had practised the
deception; and he [the king] put them to death. And the others
did evil a second time, and made an abominable odor 62 about
the king's throne; and he questioned the Magians, and they
accused Marut'a and the bishops who were with him. And the
king investigated and ascertained who had done it, and these
also he delivered to death. And the wicked envy of the Chief
Magians and of the Persian nobles increased still more, and
they determined to kill even the king and Marut'a. And he
who was next [in rank] to the king and more beloved and more
illustrious and more powerful than all the Persian nobles, when
he saw the death of the Magians, wished to avenge the worshippers of fire. And in his house he dug a deep hole 63and set
up in it sharp swords 64 and placed over them a divan and a
seat for the king, of precious and beautiful and splendid stuffs,
that when he sat down he might fall below and be pierced by
the sword and die. And he invited the king and Marut'a to
61 Two MSS. 'and to despise me and my ministers.' Compare the Syriac life of St.
Ephraem, ed. Brockelmann, Syrische Grammatik, 4th ed., p. 24.*
62 In Zoroastrianism an evil odor is a
sign of the presence of demons.
63 One
64 Two Mss. 'two swords.'
Ms. 'a pit.'

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dine. And God made his evil plan clear to Saint Marut'a, and
the saint came to the king secretly, and said: "Because I have
found favor before thee, and thou hast shown mercy to the
Christians, guard thyself, and mark what I say, which the Lord
hath revealed to me. The man who hath invited thee to dine
hath prepared a death-trap for thee, a pit under the seat, and
hath set up swords therein, that when thou wilt seat thyself
thou mayest fall below upon them and die." When the king
heard this, he was affrighted and said: "What thou sayest
seemeth incredible. Why doth he plan my death, having been
so much loved and honored by me, more than [29] all?"
Marut'a said, "Go not to that dinner, but if thou goest, seat
him in thy seat which he hath prepared for thee." And the
king said, "So be it." And the noble came and invited the king
and Marut'a with many entreaties. And they went and entered
where the seat had been prepared for the king. And the king
commanded him to sit in his place. And the other said, "Why
should thy servant sit in the king's place?" And the king insisted, and the other wept and entreated and fell on his knees.
But his entreaties were not heard. And he [the king] gave command for his soldiers to take and throw him upon the seat.
And when they threw him upon the seat, he fell into the pit upon
the swords and died. And when the king saw what had happened, and verified what the saint had said, he cried out in a
loud voice, and said, "Great is the God of the Christians who
hath revealed secrets to them that love him."
And because of these things the blessed one was loved and
honored by the king; and the king believed in the true God,
and willingly he listened to the saint. But he was afraid to reveal his belief to his nobles, lest the Persians rise against him
and kill him and take away his kingship. And on the next day
the king summoned all his great nobles and related to them all
that had happened and how he had been saved by the blessed
Marut'a, who had warned him beforehand of the death-trap.
And they all said, "Let him be extolled and honored, and let
him be worthy of very great presents from the king and from
all the nobles." And he said, "So shall it be as ye have said."
And a decree went out from the king that whatever Marut'a

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should desire to do, should be done by his authority. And the

blessed Marut'a praised God and said: "Blessed art thou, Lord
God, who hast delivered the king from a treacherous death.
And now let there be peace and friendship toward the Christians and toward the emperor of the Greeks 65 for ever and
ever." And he [the king] stretched out his gold sceptre toward
[30] the saint before all his great men and said, "Whatever thou
desirest shall be given thee." 66 And he prostrated himself
before the king, and he went out of his presence giving thanks
and praise to God.
And he gathered the remains of the martyrs of Christ who
had been put to death by the Magians and the king, and he
assembled them from different places into a sepulchre with
great honor by the command of the king; and taking some
relics from all the remains, he carried them with him to the City
of Martyrs. And he was sent away by the king with a message
of peace and many gifts, [among them] a cup of gold in memory
of the king, full of gold for the building-material of the church
which had been built in the city under the dedication of 'The
Martyrs of God.' And seeing the skilfulness of the construction of the city and of the church of God, he praised God. And
he returned again to the pious Theodosius; and he related to
him his friendship and peace with the king, and the cessation
of the persecutions and the rebuilding of the churches of God
and the collecting of the relics into sepulchres and the carrying
of a part of them to the City of Martyrs; and all the miracles
that the Lord had performed through him, and how he had
saved the king from death; and what the king of the Persians
had truly written to Theodosius, emperor of the Greeks. And
when he [the emperor] read this, he rejoiced, and with thanksgiving praised God Almighty for all his exceeding great wonders
and for God's care of those who believed in him who was manifested through him [Marut'a]. And he extolled and honored
the blessed Marut'a even more than before. And he asked of
the emperor that he issue a decree for him to gather from the
remains of all the saints in his empire some relics to carry to the
of the Persians' (i. e., between the Christians and the
15 One MS.'toward the king
66 Esther 5, 2-3.
Persian king).

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City of Martyrs, as he had himself said before; and he received

permission to do whatever he wished; and he went out to
Rome 67 and to all the cities and provinces and villages and
monasteries and hermitages, and gathered relics with the help
of God. And he returned to the pious Theodosius, and great
was the joy of the emperor. And he gave many gifts and villages and farms and vineyards and olive groves, all fruitbearing,
to the churches of God, and to the martyrs who were [31] gathered in the city.68 And he sent him away full of joy, as the
blessed one desired.
And arriving in his own land, in the city of Cop'k', with a
glad heart, he gave thanks to God. And the city and churches
of God were built with marvellous construction, and he made
altars within the walls of the house of God and placed reliquaries
within them, arranging them with admirable skill; [and he
gathered the relics] from the kingdom of the Romans, one hundred and twenty thousand, and from that of Asorestan 69
twenty thousand, and from the kingdom of the Persians eighty
thousand, and from our kingdom 70sixty thousand; altogether
the number of the relics of the saints brought together was two
hundred and eighty thousand. I omit those which were collected afterwards, and also the holy martyrs who died in that
city and remain there, by whose intercession may the Lord be
merciful to us who have translated the Passions from Syriac
into Armenian, [namely] I, Gagig, 71 and my deacon Grigor who
is with me - may they [and] all believers be worthy of a part
in the inheritance of the saints who are gathered there! And so
with gladness and with great zeal Marut'a gathered the relics
of the martyrs in the city of Np'arkert, whose names are written
in the Book of Life. And throughout the days of the blessed
one the Lord kept peace between the two sovereigns of the
Greeks and of the Persians, and [there was] a cessation of persecution, and a rebuilding of the church to the glory of his holy
name.
68 One Ms. 'the City of Martyrs.'
7 That is, Byzantium.
69 Here, probably, Syria or Assyria or both.
70

71

Armenia, the country of the translator.

Two MSS.'Father Gagik.'

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69

After all this came the end of the blessed Marut'a in the
month of June,7"on the first day, in the City of Martyrs. And
he was praised and extolled before the relics of all the saints by
all the holy men and the people who were believers, because
through him God had given salvation to the whole land, and he
had converted [men] from godlessness to true knowledge of
God [32] and from impiety to righteousness. Let us not neglect
the teachings handed down by the blessed father touching the
orthodox faith in the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, and
which is the word of faith regarding the dispensation of the Son,
who was united to a body and performed righteousness in all
things, incorruptibly to revivify our vile flesh in the likeness of
his glorious body by divine dispensation,7"and who spake concerning goodness and holiness and a life of complete austerity,
that we might live by the Spirit and despise the desires of the
flesh, and that we might attain to a portion of an inheritance in
him and in all the saints gathered in him 74 to the glory of the
most holy Trinity.
And it came to pass after the death of these kings that
Kawat,75 the grandson of Yazkert, collected his armies and
came into the territory of the Greeks, to the city of Np'arkert,
to take it. And the inhabitants of the city were in dire straits,
and because of the danger which threatened them they determined to give the cup of gold, filled with gold, for the deliverance of the city, the same which his [Kawat's] grandfather had
given as a gift 76 to the blessed Marut'a. And when it was
brought before the king, and he read the name of his grandfather which was written upon the cup, he wept and said: "Far
be it from me to take the memorial of my fathers, or to do evil
to this city. But let there be friendship and peace between me
and the city [all] the days of my life." And he returned in peace
to his own land; and the city and the whole land were delivered
72 One MS.'in January, on the 21st day'; another Ms. 'on the 21st day of the month
of June.' The dates are given in Roman nomenclature, and the numbers are written
in cipher, by letters of the alphabet.
73 Philippians 3, 21.
,4 Literally 'there.'
76Kawadh I, who reigned 488-531 A.D. and was the grandson of Yezdegerd II
(438-452 A.D.) not Yezdegerd I.
76 One MS.'which had been given by Yazkert his grandfather as a gift.'

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and saved from their evil fate.77 And they recognized and knew
that through the intercession of the saints who were gathered
there, and of the blessed Marut'a, the Lord had wrought the
salvation of the city and the land. And to him who delivereth
and saveth them that hope and trust in him be praise now and
forevermore and for all eternity. Amen.
POSTSCRIPT

Since the above was put into type I have been able to consult
J. B. Chabot, Synodicon Orientale (Notices et Extraits des
Manuscrits de la Bibliotheque Nationale, XXXVII), Paris,
1902, with Syriac text and a French translation. This is a collection of Nestorian documents relating to various synods from
410 on, made according to Chabot toward the end of the eighth
century in the patriarchate of Timothy I (780-823). For the
existence of such records Marutha was largely responsible.
Indeed Chabot gives as the first of the three canonical sources of
Nestorian history "un recueil de synodes occidentaux transmis
par Marouta de Maipherqat en 410 et auquel furent ensuite
ajoutes les canons du concile de Chalcedoine."
Of the account of proceedings at the Synod of Seleucia, agreeing in general with those given in the other Syriac sources, only
a brief summary can be given here.
After a eulogy of the catholicus Isaac and Marutha, who are
given credit for a reformation of the Eastern church and for
Yezdegerd's favorable attitude toward Christianity, this source
tells us that the bishops of the West, that is, those in Byzantine
territory, wrote a Greek letter on the subject of the church discipline to Marutha with a request that it be conveyed to the
Persian king. Marutha secretly showed it to his colleague
Isaac, and with him translated it into Persian and had it read
before Yezdegerd, who upon hearing its contents exclaimed,
"The East and the West shall be one empire under the authority of my rule (hadh Sultana l"'ahddnademalkaIh(i)"). He also
issued orders to his provincial governors (marzebhdan)to see
that the local bishops in the Persian empire be summoned to a
1
Compare the story of the ransom of the Christian captives of Ba'arbaya and
Mesopotamia in Mariibn Sulaiman above.

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synod at Seleucia, over which Isaac and Marutha were to preside. Accordingly they assembled, to the number of forty, on
the sixth of January (Epiphany), 410 A.D., and on February
first they heard the letter of the Western bishops, which contained three propositions, concerning the election and authority
of bishops, the observance of church festivals, and the acceptance of the canons of the Council of Nicaea. All these propositions were favorably received, and at Marutha's suggestion the
bishops signed their names to a formal document of ratification,
with Isaac and Marutha heading the list.
A few days later, through the influence of these two leaders,
the Eastern bishops were granted an audience with Yezdegerd,
who informed them that he would confirm the appointment of
any ecclesiastical head (riad) of whom Isaac and Marutha
should approve.
Finally, we have a Syriac version of the Nicene creed and the
text of the twenty-one canons adopted at the Synod of Seleucia,
the thirteenth of which provides for adherence on the part of
the Eastern church to the order of services, or form of ministry
(tesmeltd), of the West, which Isaac and Marutha had taught
them.
Another interesting event in Marutha's career is related in
connection with the account of the synod of Markabta in 420,
at which Agapit, bishop of Beit Laphat, alluded to earlier dissensions in the church when rebellious bishops tried to set up
a rival to the catholicus Isaac and to turn Yezdegerd against
him. At the instance of the Byzantine court Marutha was sent
to restore order. With the consent of Yezdegerd he convened a
synod and disposed of the troublesome bishops. There is no
precise indication of the date of this second synod, which, however, must have been held before 420, when Yahabalaha was
catholicus.

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